Community Water and
Sanitation Agency (CWSA)
NATIONAL COMMUNITY WATER
AND SANITATION PROGRAMME (NCWSP)
How-To-Do Guide
For Functionality And
Service Monitoring
March 2014
How-To-Do Guide
Page ii
Contents
Acknowledgements
iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms
v
Introduction
1
Objective of this Guide
1
Overview of this Guide
3
The Water Service Monitoring Approach
4
Why Water Service Monitoring?
4
What can Water Service Monitoring be used for?
4
What needs to be Monitored?
5
How do you undertake Water Service Monitoring?
11
Phase 1 - Starting-up
12
Organising the Service Monitoring Team
12
Training of Data Collection Team
13
Phase 2 - Data collection
15
Coding
15
Baseline and repeat data collection
15
Collecting data from water facilities
16
Collecting data from water Service Providers
17
Collecting data from Service Authorities
18
Monitoring of data collection
19
Phase 3 - Data Cleaning
21
Phase 4 - Data analysis, Reporting and Presentation
22
The costs of monitoring services
27
Cost breakdown
28
Data cleaning and analysis
29
Page iii How-To-Do Guide
Acknowledgements
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) is grateful to IRC within the
framework of the Triple-S project, for supporting to develop the 'How-To-Do Guide' for
assessing and monitoring rural and small town water supply services in Ghana.
CWSA is also grateful to all members of the CWSA Technical Committee, the staff of the
CWSA Regional Offices (Northern, Brong Ahafo and Volta) and the selected pilot
districts (East Gonja, Sunyani West and Akatsi) and the members of the how-to-doguide working group whose support and feedback have been invaluable throughout
the process. The working group members are:
1. Theodora Adomako Adjei – Extension Services Coordinator, CWSA
2. Dodji M. Attiogbe – Information Technology Specialist, Greater Accra Region,
CWSA
3. Esinu Ama Abbey – Information Technology Coordinator, CWSA
4. Fay Ephrim – Planning & Investment Analyst, CWSA
5. Kwabena Nyarko (PhD) – Former Director, WASHCost, KNUST
6. Jeremiah Atengdem – Northern Regional Learning Facilitator, Triple-S/CWSA
7. Tom Laari Chimbar – Volta Regional Learning Facilitator, Triple-S/CWSA
8. Benjamin Agbemor–Brong Ahafo Regional Learning Facilitator, TripleS/CWSA
9. Tyhra Carolyn Kumasi (PhD) – Research Officer, Triple-S/CWSA
10. Vida Duti – Country Director, IRC Ghana
11. Marieke Adank – Programme Officer, IRC
12. Jeske Verhoeven – Programme Officer, IRC
We acknowledge the contribution of the wider WASH sector via the National Level Learning
Alliance Platform (NLLAP) who helped to refine this framework.
in association with
How-To-Do Guide
Page iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms
CDU
CSO
CWSA
DAs
DiMES
DOM
DPs
DSA
DWD
DWST
EHAs
EHSU
FAQs
FGDs
FLOW
Ghc
GPS
GWCL
HP
ID
IMEI
ITS
KMZ
MMDAs
NCWSP
NGOs
O&M
PS
SD
SIM
SP
ToT
Triple-S
WASH
WSMTs (SCs),
WSMTs (STs)
QIS
Page v
Community Development Unit
Civil Society Organisations
Community Water and Sanitation Agency
District Assemblies
District Monitoring and Evaluation System
District Operational Manuel
Development Partners
Daily Subsistence Allowance
District Works Department
District Water and Sanitation Team
Environmental Health Assistants
Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit
Frequently Asked Questions
Focus Group Discussions
Field Level Operations Watch
Ghana cedi
Global Positioning System
Ghana Water Company Limited
Hand pump
Identification
International Mobile Station Equipment Identity
Information Technology Specialist
Keyhole Markup language Zipped
Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies
National Community Water and Sanitation Programme
Non-Governmental Organisations
Operations and Maintenance
Pipe Scheme
Secure Digital
Subscriber Identity Module
Standpipes
Training of Trainers
Sustainable Services at Scale
Water, Sanitation and Hygiene
Water and Sanitation Management Team for small communities
Water and Sanitation Management Team for small towns
Qualitaztive Information System
How-To-Do Guide
How-To-Do Guide
Page vi
Introduction
W
ith a steady growth in water coverage levels in Ghana over the last 20 years,
emphasis is slowly moving from improving coverage by construction of more
facilities, to ensuring sustainable delivery of water services in rural areas and small
towns. An important element of ensuring the provision of sustainable water services is having a
robust and comprehensive monitoring system that provides continuous reliable data required
for remedial and corrective action and strategic planning. However so far, existing monitoring
systems have focused on water coverage with less attention on functionality, actual services
delivered and performance of service providers and service authorities.
Under the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA), norms and standards have been
set related to the level of water services that should be provided under community management
models in Ghana. Guidelines, Manuals and Model Bye-laws describe the organisational,
financial and institutional arrangements that should be in place in order to ensure sustainable
water service delivery. CWSA, in collaboration with IRC International Water and Sanitation
Centre, under the Sustainable Services at Scale (Triple-S) initiative, have developed a
Framework for assessing and monitoring rural and small town water supply services in Ghana
in line with the set norms and standards.
This 'How-To-Do' Guide on monitoring Rural and Small Town Water Services in Ghana is
based on lessons and experiences acquired in the testing and implementation of the Service
Monitoring Framework. Testing and implementation of the Service Monitoring Framework
was conducted between 2011 and 2013 with two rounds of data collected in 3 pilot districts;
namely East Gonja (Northern Region), Akatsi (Volta Region) and Sunyani West (Brong-Ahafo).
This Guide has been developed through wide-spread consultations with field enumerators,
service providers and key officials involved in the testing and implementation of the service
monitoring framework in the three Districts Assemblies (DAs) and the CWSA Technical
Committee. This Guide is meant to be used together with the service monitoring framework
Objective of this Guide
This Guide has been developed to assist WASH sector stakeholders in Ghana to undertake
water service monitoring in the community water sub-sector. It details the various steps and
activities involved in carrying out water service monitoring geared at providing real time
information required for planning, budgeting, resource allocation and remedial action. The
target audience include:
v
The Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA)
v
Water
and Sanitation Units of the Works Department's of the various Metropolitan,
Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs)
v
Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs)
v
Water and Sanitation Management Teams (WSMTs)
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How-To-Do Guide
In addition, this Guide can be used by Development Partners (DP's) who want to scale up
service monitoring in their focus districts.
This Guide focuses on monitoring in the community water sub-sector, as depicted in the light
blue sections of the figure below. The figure shows the use of monitoring data at various levels,
the reports that can inform the use of the data, and the different monitoring systems and their
linkages in the community water sub-sector.
Figure 1: Overview of Monitoring systems, Reports and use in the Community Water sub-sector
The SIS will be linked
electronically with
standard reporting
formats that
summarizes the data
progressively up the
management chain
SIS
CWSA &
DAs
(DiMES)
WRC
GWCL
FLOW
EHSD
(MINTESSA)
Different FLOW
instances
(Cloud
technology)
Baseline Data Collection
Various Survey s
How-To-Do Guide
Page 2
Overview of this Guide
The first section of this guide describes the water service monitoring approach. It
discusses the 'why', 'what' and 'how' of water service monitoring. The following
sections in this guide discuss the subsequent stages of water service monitoring:
v
Phase 1: Starting-up
v
Phase 2: Data collection
v
Phase 3: Data cleaning
v
Phase 4: Data analysis, reporting and presentation
The costs related to and the business case for service monitoring is presented in
the final section of this guide.
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How-To-Do Guide
THE WATER SERVICE MONITORING APPROACH
T
his section describes the water service monitoring approach. It takes a closer look at the
'why' of water service monitoring, for what can it be used and which aspects of water
services need to be monitored.
Why Water Service Monitoring?
Water service monitoring is used to inform decision-making and strategic planning at all levels
(district, regional and national).
What can Water Service Monitoring be used for?
Water service monitoring can serve different purposes at different levels:
Local level: Service monitoring provides beneficiaries of water services (users and
service providers) with an opportunity to see how they are doing compared to other
users and service providers in a district, region or country. This can stimulate users
in demanding better services and service providers taking steps in providing these
services.
District level: Water service monitoring presents service authorities with
information on the current state of water service provision in a certain area. It can be
used to inform immediate corrective action.
Regional level (CWSA): Service monitoring data can be used at regional level to:
v
Inform regional level strategic planning on implementation and activities
related to supporting service authorities and service providers
v
Inform corrective action
National level: Service monitoring data can be used at national level to:
v
Inform national level strategic planning on implementation
and activities related to supporting regional level
CWSA and service authorities
v
Research to create more insight in what works and what does not
v
Inform discussions on how to do things better and/ or differently
v
Feed into a Sector Information System (SIS)
v
Have an overview of progress in the sub-sector towards achieving its
set goals and targets
How-To-Do Guide
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What needs to be Monitored?
In addition to the number of facilities, the types of facilities and their location, there is a need to
monitor the performance of water facilities and service providers.
Water Facilities
The functionality of a hand pump is assessed based on the following indicators:
v
Functioning: water flows out of the spout within 5 strokes
v
Partially functioning: water flows out of the spout after more than 5 strokes
v
Non functioning: no water flows out of the spout or cannot pump at all (i.e. broken down)
Water Service Levels
When a facility is functional it does not necessarily mean that it provides water service in line
with the norms and standards set for rural and small town water provision. Therefore, there is a
need to monitor water service levels in terms of water quality, quantity, reliability, and
accessibility (coverage and distance). For each of these water service level indicators,
benchmarks have been set based on national norms and standards, as shown in table 1.
Table 1: Service level sub-indicators and standards, as set by CWSA
Service Level sub
Indicators
Quantity
Quality
Coverage
Distance to water point
Reliability
Benchmark
Hand pump / standpipe: 20 litres per capita per day
House connection: 60 litres per capita per day
Ghana Standards Authority water quality standards for drinking water
Hand dug well: maximum 150 people per facility
Hand pump / standpipe: maximum 300 people per facility
Up to 500 metres
The facility is providing water for at least 95% of the year, interpreted as at least
345 days of regular service, without interruption.
Whether or not a facility meets the benchmark on the different service level sub-indicators,
determines the level of service provided by the facility. See table 2 and 3.
Table 2: Water service Levels for Hand pumps
Service Level
III
Description of Service Level
The hand pump provides water services and satisfies all sub -indicators
II
The hand pump provides water services but fails to meet one or more of the sub indicators.
The hand pump is not functioning
I
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How-To-Do Guide
Table 3: Water service levels for piped schemes
Service Level
IV
III
II
I
Description of Service Level
The piped scheme provides service as per design standards for population category
and meets all sub-indicators
The piped scheme provides service as per design standards for population category
but does not meet one of the sub-indicators
The piped scheme provides service below design standards per population
category and fails to meet one or more of the sub -indicators
Facility is non-functioning
Service Providers
An important assumption of the sustainability of water service provision is that they
are provided by well-trained Service Providers. These Service Providers should be
properly constituted in line with the guidelines 1, accountable to users and should not
suffer from political interference.
They should have access to spare
parts and technical services and
should execute maintenance and
water quality testing on a regular
basis in accordance with the
guidelines. They should set a
realistic tariff in line with the
guidelines, collect and manage
funds efficiently and effectively.
To monitor the performance of
Service Providers, indicators (see
table 4) have been developed and
tested based on national norms,
guidelines and model bye-laws.
In order to quantify qualitative
information on Service
Provider's performance,
Qualitative Information System
(QIS)2 scoring tables have been developed for each indicator. These tables go from a
minimum score of 0 (the worst situation) to 100 (the ideal situation). For each
indicator, a benchmark has been established representing the minimum acceptable
score on this indicator. This is set at the half-way point (at the 50-score).
1
District Assemblies model Bye law-Establishment and operations of water and sanitation
teams/committees
2
The scoring tables for each indicator using QIS can be found in the framework for assessing and
monitoring rural and small town water supply services in Ghana’
.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 6
Table 4: Indicators and benchmarks for monitoring performance of water service providers
Hand pump water service provider
Piped scheme water service provider
benchmark
benchmark
Management and Governance indicators:
There is a WSMT, which has been composed in line with the CWSA guidelines, and has
received initial training
Composition of WSMT
and
At least half of the following required
Operating staff
(Not applicable)
positions have been filled by adequately
qualified staff
Record keeping and
All records are kept and are up-to-date, but have not been presented to the commu nity
accountability
No political and
Changes in the WSMT membership were not due to political or chieftaincy
chieftaincy interference
interferences
Operational Indicators :
It takes between 1 to 3 days to acquire
Spare parts supply and
There are spare parts and well-equipped
spare part(s)
private sector, but it takes between 1 to 3
It takes between 1 to 3 days to acquire
technical services
days to carry out maintenance or repairs
the services of an Area Mechanic
Indicator
Corrective maintenance
and
Routine maintenance
Breakdown repair is carried out
between 1 to 3 days
Routine maintenance is carried out but
less often than twice a year
Water quality testing
Water Quality Sampling and Analysis
done by certified institutions but not on
yearly basis
Routine maintenance is executed
according to the maintenance schedule
but relevant staff have not been trained in
the use of the O&M manuals
Water quality testing and analysis is done
by certified laboratories but only once a
year and paid for by the community
through tariffs
Financial management indicators:
Revenue / expenditure
Annual revenues were higher than annual expenditure
balance
All three bank accounts have been opene d
and proper accounts are kept, but
There is a bank account, cash book, but
Financial management
amounts deposited less than thresholds
no rendering of accounts to community
but financial statement not prepared and
not audited
Tariff setting
There is a sort of financial arrangement in place but not based on all the indicative cost
items
Scoring and benchmarking of Service Providers on these indicators can be done based on
monitoring data and applying the scoring logic. An example of such scoring logic is presented in
Figure 2.
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How-To-Do Guide
Figure 2: Example of scoring logic for indicator - Composition of WSMT (small community)
No
Is there a WSMT?
Score: 0
yes
Has the WSMT been constituted in line with the guidelines?
Gender Balance (at least 30% women), and
Members dealing with technical/operational and
financial/accounting aspects; and
Vendors engaged at each water point
yes
No
Score: 25
No
Initial training
yes
RE-fresher training:
None
Score: 50 -> Benchmark
Refresher training planned for during its tenure
Score: 75
Has received refresher training
Score: 100
Service Authorities
Service Providers need to be supervised and supported by Service Authorities (e.g. the District
Assembly and CWSA). Service Authorities are responsible for overall planning and
coordination of water service provision.
Based on the District Operational Manual (DOM, 2014, page 11), the regional office of CWSA
plays the lead role in providing technical support to the Metropolitan, Municipal and District
Assemblies (MMDAs) and building the capacities of regional and district stakeholders for the
effective implementation of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) activities in the region. The
MMDA is responsible for all developments including WASH services delivery within its area of
jurisdiction. Accordingly as a Service Authority, the MMDA has a leading role as implementer
of water and sanitation projects and programmes under the National Community Water and
Sanitation Programme (NCWSP).
Scoring tables and logics for the Service Authority's indicators have been devised in a similar
way as for the Service Provider performance. See table 5 for an overview of the Service
Authority and support indicators and benchmarks.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 8
Table 5: Indicators and benchmarks monitoring performance of water Service Authorities
Indicator
Presence of a District Works
Department
District Water and Sanitatio n Plan
Budget allocation and utilisation
Benchmark
There is a full unit for WASH activities, and coordination and
collaboration for WASH activities is good but not well resourced
There is a District Water and Sanitation Plan, which has been developed
with active participation of relevant departments, but this has not been
included in the MTDP
There is a budget allocation for WASH activitie s but less than 50% of the
budget has been disbursed
Facility management plans and by laws
There are Bye-laws for WSMTs which are published and gazetted
NGO coordination
At least 50% of NGOs inform the MMDA about implementation of their
activities and align their implementation to the DWSP
Monitoring support
Data transfer from district to regional
level
Support in case of major breakdown
The MMDA monitors O&M of water facilities in terms of financial,
technical and administrative performance on a regular basis (but less
than quarterly) and provides the direct support when needed but no
auditing of WSMT accounts
DWD submits MOM reports to the regional CWSA office but not on
quarterly basis.
MMDA has provided some support to the community when they needed
support with replacement of hand pumps or redevelopment of boreholes
Table 6: Indicators and benchmarks for monitoring CWSA regional office technical support
Score
Narrative Description
100
CWSA regional office has provided technical support to the MMDA at least twice a year
50
CWSA regional office has provided technical support to the MMDA at least once last year
0
CWSA regional office has not provided technical support to each MMDA over the last year
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How-To-Do Guide
In Summary, there is the need to Monitor:
Water facilities
?
Number, location and type of
facilities
?
Functionality
Level of Service Provided in
terms of:
?
Quality
?
Quantity
?
Accessibility
?
Reliability
Performance of Service
Providers, in terms of:
?
Governance
?
Operations
?
Financial management
Service Authority and support
functions, in terms of:
?
Presence of a District Works
Department
?
District Water and Sanitation
Plan
?
Budget allocation and utilisation
?
Facility management plans and
Bye-laws
?
NGO coordination
?
Monitoring support
How-To-Do Guide
Page 10
How do you undertake Water Service Monitoring?
Water service monitoring should be a structured, planned activity which is conducted on a
quarterly basis. It involves four phases:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Starting up
Data collection
Data cleaning
Analysis, reporting and presentation
Each phase is explained in detail in the following sections of the Guide.
Page 11 How-To-Do Guide
Phase 1 - Starting-up
Organising the Service Monitoring Team
W
ater service monitoring data should ideally be collected quarterly to enable
corrective actions to be taken on a timely basis and strategic planning done at various
levels. Data should be collected by relevant staff of the Metropolitan, Municipal and
District Assemblies (MMDAs) responsible for monitoring.
Based on experience from the pilot, a Data Collection Team of at least six (6) full time dedicated
staff has to be established to ensure that data on all facilities in a district is collected within a
reasonable timeframe (e.g. within one calendar month). It is recommended that the team at the
start of data collection works in pairs for the first few days.
The data collection team needs to be supported and the data coming in must be monitored,
especially at the start of the exercise. This task should be taken up by the Information
Technology Specialist (ITS) of the regional CWSA office. In the start-up phase there is need for
the following activities:
v
Introduce stakeholders to the approach
v
Clarify roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders
v
Train stakeholders on the approach
If the approach has been followed in the area before:
v
Confirm the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders
v
Re-train key stakeholders involved
Tip: Make sure that….
ð
The Data Collection Team is anchored in the District Works Department
(DWD) and other related departments such as the Environmental Health and
Sanitation Unit (EHSU), Community Development Unit (CDU) etc.
ð
Data collectors need to have a good understanding of the district (i.e. location
of communities, water facilities and WSMTs)
ð
Data collectors should have access to means of transport (i.e. motorbike,
pick-up).
ð
In case of mobile phone data collection, data collectors should have the
ability to use a mobile/smart phone effectively, type and send messages or
are willing to learn. Each data collector needs an individual smart phone
loaded with the necessary applications for data collection.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 12
ð
Minimum of 6 data collectors per MMDA are required.
ð
Data collection should not last more than a month (based on experience from
the pilot).
ð
On average, data collectors are able to complete and submit 3-5 communities
per day.
Training of Data Collection Team
The training for the Data Collection Team involves three main sessions 3 spread over a maximum
of three days training. The main sessions are:
Session 1: What data are we collecting?
This session presents an overview of different indicators and scoring logics for assessing and
monitoring:
v
Functionality
v
Service levels
v
Service Provider performance
v
Service Authority performance
Session 2: How are we collecting the data?
This session takes data collectors through:
v
How to use the data collection tools (questionnaires, Focus Group Discussion etc.)
v
Hands on practise - Using smart phones for data collection
v
Hands on practise - Using GPS for data collection
Session 3: Field testing
This session consists of a field visit. A community is selected and data collectors are guided to
administer the data collection tools. After the field exercise there is a feedback session so data
collectors can share and discuss their experiences.
3
Training materials will be made available by CWSA to the relevant stakeholders.
Page 13 How-To-Do Guide
Tip:
ð
In order to get a good overview of water services provided in a certain area,
monitoring data has to be obtained from hand pumps and piped schemes
(including the standpipes).
ð
Make sure sufficient time is made available for training data collectors on
collecting data on piped schemes, as this tends to be more complicated and
requires more guidance than data collection on hand pumps.
ð
The training of the data collectors should be done by the people
responsible for supporting the data collectors in the field. The training
process should therefore start with a Training of Trainers (ToT) of the
people responsible for supporting data collectors so they can train the
data collectors
How-To-Do Guide
Page 14
Phase 2 - Data collection
Coding
In order to ensure that data from water facilities and Service Providers can be analysed, it is
important to use unique identity codes for each water facility and Service Provider. Unique
codes need to be generated and managed from a central point (e.g. CWSA). The same unique
codes for a water facility and Service Provider should be used in all future monitoring data
collection exercises.
In the absence of comprehensive national coding system that will generate unique codes which
are used by all stakeholders in the sub-sector, temporal unique codes should be set during the
baseline assessment. Subsequent data collection rounds will then always have to refer to the
temporal unique codes from the baseline assessment for each specific facility or Service
Provider. As soon as a national coding system is fully implemented, these temporary codes can
be replaced by the official codes.
Baseline and repeat data collection
In an area where service monitoring data has not been collected before, there is a need to collect
all static and dynamic data for all facilities in order to establish a baseline. Static data is data that
(generally) does not change over time. This includes the geo location (Global Positioning
System coordinates), the year of implementation, the type of facility, the financier of the facility
etc. Static data needs to be collected for all new water facilities. During subsequent monitoring
rounds, static data of facilities identified and assessed in the baseline, will not have to be
collected again.
Tip:
When collecting Global Positioning System (GPS) data, make sure your GPS
device or phone has been in a stable position for some time before taking the GPS
coordinate. Else the coordinate could be incorrect.
Dynamic data is data that can change over time, and thus needs to be updated at a regular
interval. This includes data on functionality, the level of service provided by the facility (in
terms of accessibility, water quality, quantity and reliability) and the use of the facility. Dynamic
data needs to be collected on all facilities. After a baseline database has been established,
dynamic data on existing facilities needs to be updated at least annually. The static data will
remain the same, unless the facility is rehabilitated or extended.
Page 15 How-To-Do Guide
Tip:
In order to ensure static and dynamic data for the same facility can be linked, the
same identity code needs to be used. To enable data collectors to identify the
right unique facility code, they have to be provided with a list and/or preferably a
digital map with the points of previous entries, their locations and their codes.
Collecting data from water facilities
In order to monitor the functionality and level of service provided in a district, data needs to be
collected from:
v
All hand pumps (hand dug wells and boreholes)
v
All public standpipes connected to piped schemes, including the ones connected to
Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) systems
v
All piped schemes, including limited mechanised boreholes, small community schemes,
small town schemes4 and connections to GWCL systems
v
All piped scheme sources
The data needs to be collected through observations and interviews with the Water Service
Provider. The data collection forms can be found in the annex of the Framework for Assessing
and Monitoring rural and small town water supply services in Ghana document.
Frequently Asked Questions of data collectors:
Where can I get data on year of construction, financier of the facility, design population
etc.?
ð
Do not only rely on information from the WSMT for the static data, but review projects
reports and as built drawings of the water facility.
How can I determine the number of people using a hand pump or standpipe?
ð
Note that this is not the number of people actively going to the facility to collect water,
but the total number of people depending on water from the facility. For example, in a
household of 5 people there may only be 1 person actively going to the facility to
collect water, but the number of people depending on the facility in that household is
5 (i.e. the total number of household members).
ð
In order to determine the number of people depending on the facility, use the census
data were available to assess the number of people in the community.
4
A glossary of technology options is available in the monitoring indicator framework.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 16
ð
If multiple water sources are available in the community, use the ratio of people per
water facility type to calculate the number of people per facility
How can I get a reliable estimation of the amount of water used per person per day from a
hand pump?
ð
This is indeed a challenge. If sales records are kept which mention the quantity sold
these can be reviewed and compared with your own assessment of how many
buckets are sold on a daily basis. Then compare this with the number of people using
the facility. If the number of buckets sold is more than the number of people
depending on the facility, then people are using on average more than 20 litres per
person per day (lcpd).
How can I measure the discharge (or flow rate) of a standpipe?
ð
Measure the amount of time it takes to fill a container with a known quantity.
ð
The discharge (l/s) = volume of the container (in litres) / time it took to fill (in seconds)
Tip: Turn on the tap before putting the container under it to be filled.
Collecting data from water Service Providers
Hand pumps in rural areas should ideally be managed by Small Community Water and
Sanitation Management teams (WSMT-SC), while piped schemes in small towns should be
managed by Small Town Water and Sanitation Management Teams (WSMT-ST). However in
addition, other service providers can often be found including:
v
Assembly man managing a (number of) hand pump(s)
v
Private person managing a hand pump
v
Private person managing a limited mechanised borehole
In order to monitor the performance of Water Service Providers, data needs to be collected on
their governance, operations and financial management. This data will be used to score the
performance of the Service Providers 5.
Data can be collected by having an interview or Focus Group Discussion (FGD) with the Service
Provider. It is useful to organise a FGD followed by interviews with key members (chairman,
treasurer and secretary) to get more detailed information. Data also needs to be collected by
reviewing records, including administrative, financial and technical records.
5
Some of this information can be difficult to collect when the facility is owned by a private person.
Page 17 How-To-Do Guide
Tips for collecting data from water Service Providers:
ð
Inform the service provider in advance and book an appointment
ð
Make sure that relevant WSMT members (chairman, treasurer and
secretary) are available for the interview/focus group.
ð
Give a clear introduction on the objective of the data collection exercise and
check whether this is understood correctly.
ð
In case the service provider is a WSMT consisting of a number of members,
make sure that all members participate in the Focus Group Discussion.
ð
Encourage other community members to participate and validate responses
given by Service Provider.
ð
Make the interview a conversation with the group.
ð
Try to keep the meeting under 45 minutes.
ð
When working in pairs, have one data collector ask the questions and lead
the conversation, while the other records the data.
ð
Where possible, advice the Service Provider on issues related to basic O&M
and administrative practices, or provide technical assistance in other ways
during the visit.
ð
Request for all the records from all the systems.
ð
Plan a return visit to the Service Provider if you fail to gather all information
on the first visit.
Collecting data from Service Authorities
Service Authorities supervise water Service Providers in a certain geographical area.
Furthermore, Service Authorities plan and coordinate efforts to sustain and improve water
services. In Ghana, the MMDA is responsible for ensuring sustainable water service provision
in their area of jurisdiction. The MMDA is supported in this function by CWSA. In order to
assess the performance of Service Authorities, data needs to be collected from the MMDA and
its DWD and the CWSA. This data can be collected by organising a FGD or interviews with the
Service Authorities to gather information on their performance. Furthermore review of
documents, including budgets and expenditure overviews, can help obtain the required
information
Tip for collecting data from MMDA/DWD and CWSA:
ð
Follow protocol. Make an appointment with the MMDA Chief Executive
and/or the District Coordinating Director, Planners, Water Engineers,
DWD/DWSTs, EHAs and explain the objective of the data collection exercise.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 18
Monitoring of data collection
To ensure the quality of the data, there is a need to monitor submitted surveys from the field to
check for wrong data entries, inconsistencies and other errors. As mentioned previously in the
starting up phase, this task can be undertaken by CWSA regional Information Technology
Specialist (ITS).
Where errors are minor, a simple call to the data collector involved could be used to rectify the
anomaly. Where errors are grave, the Information Technology Specialist should visit the data
collector concerned and provide direct support.
Common data collection mistakes include:
Facilities assigned the same GPS coordinates because:
ð
Facilities are too close to register separate coordinates or
ð
Data collectors forgot to take new coordinates as they moved to new
locations or facilities.
Corrective action: This can be checked by sorting on geo-location.
Amount of water used per person per day
ð
Explanation of the indicator: This should be the amount of water from that
specific facility used per person per day.
ð
How to spot mistakes? Check the number of people using the facility. If this
number is higher than 600, the use of 20 lpcd would mean that the pump
would have to be in use non-stop for more than 10 hours each day (assuming
it only takes 1 minute to fill a bucket), which does not seem realistic. So if you
spot that the number of users is higher than 500, and a use of “More than 20
lpcd”, check with the data collector if this is the real situation.
Corrective action: Check with data collector. Adjust number of people or use per
day accordingly.
Number of people within 500 meters of the facility
ð
Explanation of the indicator: This should be an estimate of the number of
people who are located within 500 metres of the facility.
How to spot mistakes? Save the data in your Excel file as a KMZ 6 file. Open the
KMZ file in Google Earth and check whether the facility is indeed within 500
meter of a collection of houses.
6
KMZ is a file extension for a placemark file used by Google Earth. KMZ stands for Keyhole Markup
language Zipped. It is a compressed version of a KML (Keyhole Markup Language) file. KMZ files can
contain placemarks featuring a custom name; the latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates for the
location, and 3D model data.
Page 19 How-To-Do Guide
(Estimated) number of people depending on the facilities as their main source of
water supply
ð
Explanation of the indicator: If one community is served by a number of
functional boreholes, who all make use of the facility, then the estimated
number of people depending on the specific facility will be the total
population divided by the number of functional facilities.
ð
How to spot mistakes? Check for repeated high population sizes. Check
whether this concerns the same community.
Corrective action: If so, check with the data collector whether this is the total
population, or really the number of people depending on that specific facility.
In the service provider survey: How much is the tariff?
ð
Explanation of the indicator: This should be filled in Ghana pesewas (GHp).
ð
How to spot mistakes? The tariff per bucket is likely to be between 1 and 10
Ghana Pesewas. The tariff per m3 is likely to be between 50 and 200 Ghana
pesewas.
Corrective action: Check whether the submitted tariff is within the margin
mentioned above. If not, check with the data collector and correct accordingly.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 20
Phase 3 - Data Cleaning
Data that has been collected and submitted needs to be cleaned before it can be used for analysis
and reporting. It is useful to do this in a working group, involving data collectors and other
relevant MMDA and CWSA staff.
Organising a working group is not only helpful in data cleaning, but can simultaneously be
used for data validation and combined with data analysis (see Phase 4).
Tips: How to spot and correct common data collection or entry mistakes?
ð
Inconsistency in spelling of names (especially of communities and area
councils). This can be checked by sorting on community or area council name
and checking consistency.
ð
Double counting. Data on the same facility or service provider may be
submitted more than once. This can be checked by sorting the entries on
location or on community name and comparing entries.
ð
Facilities assigned same GPS coordinates (because facilities are too close to
register separate coordinates or enumerators forgot to take coordinates as
they moved to new locations or facilities). This can be checked by sorting on
geo-location.
Page 21 How-To-Do Guide
Phase 4 - Data analysis, Reporting and
Presentation
Data analysis is done by the MMDAs with support from the CWSA. Data analysis consists of
scoring and benchmarking of:
v
Water facilities, in terms of:
w
Functionality
w
Provided service level
v
Service Providers, in terms of performance in the area of:
w
Governance
w
Operations
w
Financial Management
v
Service Authorities, in terms of in the area of:
w
Establishment of a District Works Department
w
Availability of a District Water and Sanitation Plan
w
Budget allocation and utilisation
w
Facility Management Plans and Bye-laws
w
NGO coordination
w
Monitoring support
w
Data transfer from district to regional level
w
Support in case of major breakdown)
Data analysis can be done by using the collected monitoring data and applying the scoring
tables presented in the Framework for assessing and monitoring rural and small town water
supply services in Ghana.7
In order to ensure consistency in data analysis, it is advisable to use logical formula in excel to
process the monitoring data. Stakeholders at different levels will need access to the monitoring
results in different ways and with different levels of detail and aggregation. The results of water
service monitoring needs to be presented at various sector platforms for reflection, discussion
and action by stakeholders (e.g. district, regional and national). The findings can empower
affected groups with adequate information to hold their duty bearers accountable and demand
for improvements in water service delivery in their communities. For example:
v
Users may be interested in the level of service that they receive and the performance of their
Water Service Provider, as compared to other Service Providers in the area. They can use
this information to hold the Service Provider accountable.
7
CWSA 2014, Framework for Assessing and Monitoring Rural and Small Town Water Supply
Services in Ghana, Accra
How-To-Do Guide
Page 22
Providers may be interested in the level of service that they provide and their
performance, as compared to other Service Providers in the area. Furthermore they may be
able to use the data on Service Authority performance, to hold Service Authorities
accountable.
v
Service
The data can be presented per facility or service provider, for example in maps (see figure 3).
This map shows a spatial distribution of water points in the East Gonja District.
Figure 3: Example of map of water point distribution in East Gonja district
At district level, maps and figures (see below) can be useful for strategic planning, allocation of
resources and taking remedial actions. At this level, aggregated data per area council can be
useful as well. This can be presented in tables or graphs (see figure 4) which shows the user
perception of water quality in the East Gonja District.
Page 23 How-To-Do Guide
Figure 4: Example of bar chart showing percentage (%) of user perception of water quality in
East Gonja district
% of facilities
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
not acceptable
acceptable
4
2
33
30
1
2
1
30
15
Salaga
Makango/
Kafaba
4
Bunjai
Kpariba
Kpembe
Kulaw
1
2
4
2
4
33
30
1
30
15
Area Council
After the presentation of the monitoring findings, stakeholders should be encouraged to discuss
gaps identified and develop an action plan on how to address the issues. The plan can also be
used to leverage additional external resources from development partners, individuals, and
foundations to implement the plan.
Tip
Actively involving core Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA)
staff and Environmental Health Assistants (EHA) in the data analysis and
visualisation of the findings can help facilitate acceptance and ownership of the
results.
At national level, there is interest in aggregated data per district or region, in order to inform
strategic planning. This can involve data on service levels, but also on Service Provider or
Authority performance. For examples, figure 5 (below) shows the proportion of hand pumps
providing a certain level of service and average service provider scores in 3 districts.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 24
Figure 5: Proportion of hand pumps providing a certain level of service (left) and average
service provider scores in 3 districts (right)
100%
100
90%
90
Akatsi
Average service provider score
Broken down or not
used (score:0)
80%
Substandard service
level: benchmark met on
1 indicator (score: 25)
% of handpumps
70%
60%
Substandard service
level: benchmark met on
2 indicators (score: 25)
50%
Substandard service
level: benchmark met on
3 indicators (score: 25)
40%
30%
70
60
50
40
30
10
Basic service level
(score: 50)
10%
Sunyani West
20
Substandard service
level: benchmark met on
4 indicators (score: 25)
20%
East Gonja
80
Average Governance
indicators
0%
Average of
operational
indicators
Akatsi East Gonja Sunyani
West
Average of financial
management
indicators
At national level, there is also an interest in cross-analysis between the different indicator
groups, in order to stimulate and guide sector debate. For example, which elements of water
service performance have the strongest correlation with service reliability (see figure 6)?
Figure 6: Correlation between reliability and service provider performance
100%
90%
% of reliable point sources
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
n
o
tio
u
tit
ns
Co
Re
rd
co
g
in
ep
ke
d
an
y
i
ab
nt
ac
u
co
re
es
ly
lit
N
SA
AT
fW
p
up
r
pa
a
Sp
ts
c
ni
ive
ct
ea
Ar
m
rre
Co
n
ai
m
c
ri
Pe
i
od
m
er
at
W
it
al
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ur
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d
an
ex
m
ba
t
di
qu
ng
en
n
la
e
yt
te
te
n
ai
t
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st
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ha
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ce
ic
rv
ge
lm
a
an
iff
r
Ta
ia
nc
na
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Re
Point source managed by WSMT(SC) that does not meet benchmark
Point source managed by WSMT(SC) that meets benchmark
Page 25 How-To-Do Guide
tti
se
iff
r
Ta
s
ha
be
en
t
se
In addition to generating individual maps, graphs and tables, monitoring results can be
presented in the form of:
v
Factsheets - see for example:
http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/countries/ghana_triple_s_initiative/news_events/tr
ipe_s_ghana_produces_fact_sheets_on_water_service_delivery_in_three_districts)
v
Research reports - see for example:
http://www.waterservicesthatlast.org/media/files/the_status_of_rural_water_supply_serv
ics_in_ghana
v
Blogs - see for example:
http://waterservicesthatlast.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/tracking-change-and-sharpeningindicators/
These kinds of materials can stimulate sector-wide discussion and debate on what is going
well, what is not going well, and on how things could be improved or done differently.
How-To-Do Guide
Page 26
The costs of Monitoring services
As shown in the previous chapters of this “How-to” Guide, regular monitoring of water services
has many advantages and can be used for a variety of purposes. But monitoring also comes with
certain costs. The details of the costs which have to be budgeted for when undertaking
monitoring of rural and small town water services in Ghana as described in this document and
based on the Triples S/CWSA service monitoring are described in this chapter.
The following cost elements need to be considered:
of maintaining a monitoring platform i.e. the FLOW instance: development and
running costs of the platform, including staff time
v
Cost of internet connectivity
v
Costs of data collection medium: paper or mobile phones and their running costs
v
Training of Trainers and training of data collectors
v
Data collectors: staff time and allowances for data gathering, including cost of fuel, lunch
and, if needed, accommodation
v
Key MMDA staff: staff time and allowances for data cleaning and analysis (a minimum of
five days per year).
v
Regional CWSA staff: staff time and allowances to guide and support water service
monitoring
v
Costs of publication of monitoring results (e.g. factsheets, reports etc)
v
Costs
The costs to conduct a baseline study including training, data collection, cleaning and analysis
are about Ghc 16,650 per district (see table 7 below)8. The second round costs on average Ghc
12,560 per district (see table 8 below). The difference is due to the fact that the duration for
training for data collection, monitoring and supervision, data cleaning and analysis is reduced
in the second round. In addition, seven (7) phones (one phone for each enumerators and the
supervisor) at the cost of Ghc 350 per phone would be ideally included in the budget.
Table 7: Cost of the first round of service monitoring
Cost components
1
2
3
Training of enumerators
Data collection
Monitoring and
supervision
4 Data cleaning and
analysis
Total
8
Cost of service monitoring in Ghana cedis (Ghc)
East Gonja
Akatsi
Sunyani West
Average
760
2,960
630
1450
7,500
9,040
10,500
9013
3,554
3,830
1,176
2853
5,110
2,960
1,927
3332
16,924
18,790
14,233
16,649
All costs mentioned in this chapter are in Ghana cedi (Ghc) 2012 and when used in planning and
budgeting need to be brought to the year under consideration.
Page 27 How-To-Do Guide
Table Cost of the Second round of service monitoring
Cost components
1
2
3
Training of enumerators
Data collection
Monitoring and
supervision
4 Data cleaning and analysis
Total
Cost of service monitoring in Ghana cedis (Ghc)
East Gonja
Akatsi
Sunyani
Average
West
755
2,161
1,725
827
7,500
6,250
7,500
7,083
2,400
1,650
1,232
1,761
1,960
12,615
2,820
12,881
1,716
12,173
2,165
12,556
The costs detailed in the tables above exclude the time input (salaries and benefits) of the
following personnel that were actively involved:
v
District
Assembly staff
staff
v
Triple S project staff
v
CWSA
Cost breakdown
Procurement of the mobile phones
Each Municipal or District Assembly would require at least seven Android phones. The
Samsung Galaxy Ace, which sells for approximately Ghc 350, was used for the monitoring
exercise. The phone is user friendly and very efficient.
Training of Data Collectors on FLOW, use of phone and indicators
A two day workshop for 6-10 district staff on the use of mobile phones for data collection, service
monitoring indicators and the specific questions for the monitoring will be required as
described in phase 19. The average cost of training is Ghc 1450. The training cost includes the cost
of training venue, stationary, snack, water, lunch and transport allowance
Data Collection
Data collection can be carried out by six (6) enumerators for a period of 25 days covering water
supply facilities (hand pumps, mechanised systems, standpipes) and the water management
organisations (WSMTs for small communities and towns ). Initially the staff will work in pairs
and later on work individually after mastering the use of the mobile phones for the survey.
Monitoring and Supervision of the field work
The Triples S project staff and one CWSA staff spent four days in the field to supervise and
monitor the data collection exercise. The expenditure for these activities covers fuel, Daily
9
See page 15 of this document
How-To-Do Guide
Page 28
Subsistence Allowance (DSA), accommodation, lunch and phone credit for internet. For the
baseline four days of supervision and monitoring by Triple-S staff and CWSA staff experience in
the use of the mobile phones for monitoring was sufficient. Subsequent monitoring required
less time since the team had acquired experience from the baseline survey.
Data Cleaning and Analysis
The team needs two (2) days with the enumerators to clean the data, to fill in incomplete
information, correct inconsistencies and delete duplications from the data. Data cleaning is
useful to correct all wrongly spelt community names, wrongly placed Area Councils, duplicate
submissions etc.
Two (2) day data analysis training was organised for CWSA and District Assembly staff to guide
the participants to identify their data needs well and provide them with the requisite skill to be
able to perform basic data analysis and provide information for management decisions using
pivot tables in Microsoft Excel.
In total seven (7) days will be required for data cleaning and analysis for the first round
(baseline) service monitoring. In subsequent service monitoring rounds the duration can be
reduced from seven (7) days to four (4) days.
To sum, the cost of monitoring rural and small towns water services is made up of the following:
v
Initial set up cost and the cost of the mobile phones
v
Recurrent cost of service monitoring covering:
w
Training of the enumerator
w
Data collection
w
Monitoring and supervision of the field work
w
Data cleaning and analysis
Page 29 How-To-Do Guide
How-To-Do Guide
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